MOHD Raihaan Abd Aziz finished last in the field of 15 cyclists in the downhill final of the 15th Asian Mountain Bike Championships and inaugural Asian Junior Mountain Bike Championships in Melaka, Malaysia, yesterday.

Clocking 3.48 minutes at the Bukit Beruang downhill cycling course, the 21-year-old national cyclist was only four seconds behind the winner.

According to the team's manager, Indonesia won the event while Japan and Thailand finished second and

third respectively. Though Omar 'Ali Hj Ibrahim was hoping that good weather would help Mohd Raihaan overturn a poor start he qualified second last during the official timing on Friday the lack of rain did not help the rider's chances.

"The weather was fine, he just did not ride very fast," said Omar 'Ali in a telephone interview yesterday.

"Saturday's time is an improvement on his time on Friday, but the other riders were just faster.

"It was a technical course and at the last part of the track there was a six-feet drop which he could not do. He took another option and it took him a few more seconds," added the manager.

The Sultanate's other cyclists in the four-day tournament which started on Thursday, Mohd Halid Sata and Mohd Nurjamri Johari, will take to the Recreational Forest in Ayer Keroh today for the cross-country event.

They will be joined by Mohd Raihaan and 49 other riders. Each lap of the course is 6km and the cyclists have to complete six laps.

"It is a very technical track and it is a bit slippery, so a lot will depend on whether it rains or not," explained Omar 'Ali during the interview.

"If it does not rain I am hopeful our riders can do better," he added.